New Zealand is a Big Asset for the World
From Part 2 of The Rules-Based International Order: Rhetoric or Reality?
In this second write up from our recent Rules-Based International Order event, hear from two speakers (H.E. Viktor Vavricka, Swiss Ambassador, and Dr Rouzbeh Parsi, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, Swedish Institute of International Affairs). They cover a wide range of subjects from bridging the dissonance between rhetoric and reality to the period of renegotiating of global rules in a multipolar world.
Leave your comments and feedback in the comments section below. We have one last part to this series which includes comments from Sir Ken Keith, former justice at the International Court of Justice, and the Q&A from the event.
The event attracted 130 guests with an average customer satisfaction score of 4.22/5 (n=19). Guests liked the open, honest dialogue and the mix of perspectives on: the current risks to global order, the fact that the existing system is not fit-for-purpose (though parts still work), the critical role of multilateralism - especially for smaller countries like New Zealand and Switzerland, and the urgent need for reform.
Below are notes taken by Diplosphere.
Bridging the Dissonance between Rhetoric and Reality
H.E. Viktor Vavricka, Swiss Ambassador
Served in Bangkok, Berlin, the Occupied Palestinian Territory
1/ International law in practice works.
As illustrated in the ambassador’s experience:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made a real impact on the physical and legal conditions of detainees.
The UN convention against corruption helped raise awareness and criminalise corruption, and the asset recovery chapter was used in Switzerland to restitute assets that illegally found their way on the domestic marketplace.
The Montreux document, endorsed by 59 countries, affirms states’ obligations regarding private military companies.
2/ But cognitive dissonance exists between the rhetoric and reality.
That is, there is a big gap between what is said, and what is done. No place is this more evident in the Israel - Palestine conflict where a lack of political will to implement international law consistently undermines its credibility - to the frustration of generations of diplomats.
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